HANSHER@BATTELLE.ARPA ("MFG. SOFTWARE DEVEL. FAC. ", 11-9-093A) (01/22/88)
>> We have a TK70 tape which was 'init'd under RSTS/E on a PDP-11 (using a >> TK-50 drive). The tape now refuses to 'initialize' under VMS, failing with >> the message "Software write protect"...... >> How do we recover from this one? >I suspect you can't recover this tape. The reason is that Digital says >the TK70 drive can *read* TK50 tapes but not write them; I suspect (can't >verify since we have no TK70s here) that if you inserted a TK50 tape into >a TK70 drive, the tape would be "software write protected". >As for you particular case, I'd guess that the RSTS system has made the >tape look like a TK50 to the TK70 drive so its treating it like a TK50 >cartridge. The only solution I can think of would be to bulk-erase the >cartridge *HOWEVER, WARNING, READ THIS FIRST* I seem to remember that >TK50s (and probably TK70s) are formatted at the factory and so bulk >erasing would destroy the tape (maybe another reader can clear up this >point). Frank- I have run into this problem here at Battelle. An attempted INIT of a TK70 cartridge (TK52-K) that was previously initialized to be a "TK50" results in the above mentioned write protect problem. An attempt to write to the volume also results in a parity error. I had the same idea that you had about bulk erasing. Since TK52 cartridges are very, very hard to come by, I decided to give it a try. Success!!! The cartridge seems to be initializing, writing, and reading fine. <<< Kevin M. Hansher <<< Battelle Columbus Division